Friday 13th November 2009 (Series 61, Prelim 85)

[Phil Reynolds]

Countdown recap for Friday 13 November 2009.

C1: Champion Ryan Taylor (6 wins, 600 points.)
C2: Challenger Lucy Bolton.
DC: Susie Dent and Tim Vine.
RR: Rachel Riley.
OT: Other words or solutions.

Since taking the champion's chair a week ago, Ryan's scores have been creeping ever upward, averaging exactly a century and with games including a nailbiting contest against Lesley Hines on Tuesday and an excellent score of 123 against Apteroid Martyn Simpson yesterday. Today's challenger is chartered accountant Lucy from Leeds, who has a 14-month old daughter and plays lots of sports including netball.

R01: O S E E D N T I O
R02: W T A S E O P D E
R03: O D A I N Q E J C
R04: Z B A I N A E D R
R05: 25, 1, 6, 10, 4, 8. Target: 448.
TTT: ANEWPLOT - "You can't go gliding without the help of this"
R06: M R A O B L E S M
R07: A N E A X T W O T
R08: S L A Y U E F C K
R09: O N U E R R L I P
R10: 50, 5, 2, 1, 3, 9. Target: 177.
TTT: MALEWISH - "It goes on the wall like a fruity estuary"
R11: A F O I T N L D T
R12: S E I C A P H E T
R13: O G E A N G N R T
R14: 100, 10, 8, 6, 1, 4. Target: 108.
R15: S P U N A L I N E (conundrum)


And now a brief interlude before our main feature:

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Enjoy the show.

Round 1: O S E E D N T I O

C1: DENOTES (7)
C2: STONED (6)
OT: DESTINE (7) ENDITES (7) OSTEOID (7)
Score: 7–0 (max 7)

DESTINE is a word I wouldn't have expected to be valid; it's in the dictionary as a verb meaning to intend or set aside something for a purpose, but I can't imagine how you would use it except in the participial form DESTINED (as in "destined for greatness").

Round 2: W T A S E O P D E

C1: POSTED (6)
C2: WASTED (6)
DC: ADOPTEES (8)
Score: 13–6 (max 15)

Lucy gets on the scoreboard while DC spot the darren.

Round 3: O D A I N Q E J C

C1: JOINED (6)
C2: ajoined
DC: DEACON (6)
OT: ADJOIN (6) ANODIC (6) CANOED (6) COINED (6) DECANI (6)
Score: 19–6 (max 21)

An unfortunate gamble there by Lucy.

Round 4: Z B A I N A E D R

C1: BRAINED (7)
C2: BRAINED (7)
DC: BANDIER (7) AIRBAND (7)
OT: ARANEID (7) BRAAIED (7)
Score: 26–13 (max 28)

Round 5: 25, 1, 6, 10, 4, 8. Target: 448.

C1: 448. 25 x (10 + 8) - 6 + 4 (10)
C2: 448. 25 x (10 + 8) - 6 + 4 (10)
Score: 36–23 (max 38)

Teatime teaser: ANEWPLOT -> TOWPLANE

Round 6: M R A O B L E S M

C1: morales
C2: MARBLES (7)
DC: MAMBOES (7)
OT: AMBLERS (7) LAMBERS (7) RAMBLES (7) EMBALMS (7) SLAMMER (7) SOLEBAR (7)
Score: 36–30 (max 45)

MARBLES practically leapt out of the selection, but maybe Ryan's one of these people who writes the letters in a circle or something and doesn't look at the screen.

Round 7: A N E A X T W O T

C1: ATONE (5)
C2: NOTATE (6)
DC: EXTANT (6)
OT: ANATTO (6)
Score: 36–36 (max 51)

Ooh. Now this is starting to get interesting. Ryan fails to score for the second round in succession, bringing Lucy right back into the game. Could his octorun be stopped in its tracks?

Round 8: S L A Y U E F C K

C1: SAFELY (6)
C2: SUCKLE (6)
DC: FLUKES (6) FLUKEY (6) LACKEYS (7)
OT: SACKFUL (7)
Score: 42–42 (max 58)

Round 9: O N U E R R L I P

C1: PLEURON (7)
C2: LINER (5)
DC: PURLOINER (18)
Score: 49–42 (max 76)

A nice spot by Ryan although missing the 9.

OoW: Susie explains the origin of the phrase "the cockles of the heart".

Round 10: 50, 5, 2, 1, 3, 9. Target: 177.

C1: 177. (50 + 9) x 3 (10)
C2: 177. 50 x 3 + 9 x (2 + 1) (10)
Score: 59–52 (max 86)

Teatime teaser: MALEWISH -> LIMEWASH

Round 11: A F O I T N L D T

C1: LADINO (6)
C2: infloat
OT: DALTON (6) DOLINA (6) FANTOD (6) FONTAL (6)
Score: 65–52 (max 92)

A difficult selection forces Lucy to gamble on another non-word, giving Ryan back the 13-point lead he had before the first ad break.

Round 12: S E I C A P H E T

C1: PITCHES (7)
C2: HEPATIC (7)
DC: HEPATICS (8) PEACHIEST (18)
Score: 72–59 (max 110)

Heartbreakingly, this time Lucy decides not to gamble - she'd considered adding the S to HEPATIC.

Round 13: O G E A N G N R T

C1: NEGATOR (7)
C2: TONNAGE (7)
OT: NORTENA (7) REGNANT (7)
Score: 79–66 (max 117)

Lucy's only chance now is if Ryan flunks the final numbers game. Good time to go for six small, you might think. But instead she picks one large and it couldn't be easier.

Round 14: 100, 10, 8, 6, 1, 4. Target: 108.

C1: 108. 100 + 8 (10)
C2: 108. 100 + 8 (10)
Score: 89–76 (max 127)

Round 15: S P U N A L I N E

No one buzzes. The answer was PENINSULA.
Score: 89–76 (max 137)

The conundrum is solved by someone in the audience who looks like a youngier, spottier version of Paul Merton.

This was another tight game that could have gone either way; had Lucy risked HEPATICS and gone for a safe 6 in round 3, she'd have won. As it is, Ryan continues to look like the luckiest guy around. A winning score of just 58 or above in his final heat will see him leap three places up the leader board, overtaking Steve Wood, Jeffrey Burgin and Brian Selway to become the number 4 seed. Can he do it? Find out on Monday.

Further summaries are at:
http://www.apterous.org/cdb/series.php?series=61

[Jeffrey Burgin]

Using this for practice this morning, I won by 2 points by buzzing in with PENINSULA on 29 seconds- what a finish that would have been!